Facebook promotes, quickly removes VR shooting game at CPAC

Facebook pulled a demonstration of Bullet Train, a virtual reality game which allows players use an imaginary gun to pretend shoot at people in a train station, at the 2018 Conservative Political Action Conference.

The move comes criticism for incorporating a match so closely Florida left 17 people dead.

“There is a typical set of adventures contained in the Oculus demos we attribute at public events. Violence can be included by some of the action games. From this demonstration, we’ve removed them in light of the current events in Florida and from respect for their families and the victims. We regret that we failed to do so in the first place,” Facebook’s VP of VR Hugo Barra said in an emailed statement to Mashable.

As the students and loved ones of the victims mourn and the gun control argument is reignited, the choice to promote a match of Facebook struck a chord of poor timing. Here’s a video of this experience, as shared on Twitter:

Facebook’s existence at CPAC comes as the company faces backlash from many sides for its function in spreading conspiracy theories concerning the Parkland shooting. Facebook has preached it’s working to limit the range of news and has a set of community standards. And it spreads on the social network. Meanwhile, the Facebook and the reputation of having a liberal bias still battles with.

Venture capitalist Hunter Walk suggested Facebook should bill attendees to perform and then donate the cash:

Unless Facebook is charging CPAC attendees $5 to perform donating that money to gun safety organizations, this could be one presentation to pull given circumstances… https://t.co/SLcIUINwzX

This season was the company’s second year in a row at CPAC, Lerner reported, citing Facebook’s Policy Communications Manager Nu Wexler who was helping put up a booth along with other Facebook workers.

“Facebook routinely participates in events hosted by organizations throughout the political spectrum,” that a Facebook spokesperson composed in an emailed statement to Lerner after she asked about the company’s CPAC presence. “Our existence lets us share information regarding our products as well as facilitate a dialogue in which people are able to discuss their views and create content to engage their audiences. Our participation isn’t an endorsement of any specific platform or position.”

But when it came to showing a match off, Facebook decided to remove it.